Report Cards: Theirs & Mine
It’s report card time. Mary Tarashuk puzzles over the disconnect between calls for authentic assessment & a culture mired in traditional A’s & F’s.
Teaching and learning in grades 4-8
Teaching Visual Literacy
Kevin Hodgson tells how he helps students learn to read and interpret diagrams, maps, and infographics “packed with numbers and statistics and images.”
Can Teachers and Students Be Friends?
Teachers should be friendly with students but avoid adult-style friendships, say Larry Ferlazzo & Rick Wormeli in this excerpt from Classroom Management Q&A.
Should All STEM Look Alike?
Are there components that must always be in place for something to earn the STEM program label? STEM curriculum expert Anne Jolly identifies two essentials.
Teaching with Tablets: Integrating tablets with effective instruction
Teaching with Tablets, says reviewer Joy Kirr, is a brief, useful guide from Frey, Fisher & Gonzalez describing how to leverage the increasing availability of tablets and iPads by tying their use to best instructional practices.
STEM Lesson Essentials: Integrating Science, Tech, Engineering, & Math
Starting out in STEM? The authors provide practical and engaging activities to help novice & experienced teachers along the path and provide school leaders without a STEM background the information they need to help guide program development.
Turning Best Practices into Daily Practices: Simple Strategies
Beninghof’s book of best practices is rich with examples of how to increase student participation, focus attention & strengthen memory, says Linda Biondi.
STEAM & Media Literacy
Media literacy consultant Frank W. Baker considers some of the ways that media arts intersect with STEM and present STEAM learning opportunities.
Finding the Heart of Nonfiction: 7 Essential Tools with Mentor Texts
Heard helps teachers consider the potential of mentor texts and the creativity that nonfiction writing skills can encourage, says reviewer Kevin Hodgson.
Scrapping Outdated Lessons
It’s tempting to keep well crafted lessons in play long after they are relevant to students, writes history teacher Jody Passanisi. We have to make them new.
